Track Listing

1. Back On The Track
2. Chris Cross
3. Miss Poopie
4. Bird Wave
5. Spear For Moon Dog Part 2
6. Tight Times
7. Spinning The Wheel
8. Funky Junk

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #21489 in Music
• Released on: 1997-01-27
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .20 pounds

Customer Reviews

Heavy
Ahh Jimmy McGriff. The man who at the age of 16, having played the bass, the drums, alto sax and some other instruments, was still trying to find 'his' instrument. In the course of looking he had jammed as a session musician with some pretty big names, names he would learn the essentials of moving a crowd from. But it took the invention of the Hammond B3 to finally give Jimmy an instrument that "would push me more than I could push it."

It's worth understanding why he chose this instrument over others in order to understand the Jimmy McGriff style and why it sounds so funky. See the point is the Hammond B3 has the ability, with very few instruments accompanying, to sound like it is part of a much bigger band than it really is. In fact it has the ability to sound like a big band on its own, the type of big band that Count Basie and Duke Ellington used to lead. These were the sounds that really rocked Jimmy's musical world. While the whole jazz scene was being tempted and shocked in equal measures by the rock world, Jimmy kept thinking of that old, big band sound all along. And he carved out his own distinctive style with such an ear. This album's sleeve doesn't list the players, it simply says 'unknown' but if Jimmy's earlier bands are anything to go by it would have been recorded by just four musicians - Guitar, Alto or Tenor Sax, Drums and Jimmy plays bass with his foot peddles and/or his left hand and melody with his right - yet the sound is expansive, rich and full bodied for four instruments.

There were other factors why he chose the Hammond. His friend Shirley Scott (famed for a rip roaring version of the Isley Bros' "It's Your Thing") was literally tearing up every joint she played in with her heavy, funky, racey Hammond sounds. Then there were others who were at it: Wild Bill Davis (a pioneer of the organ), Bill Doggett (a massive hit monster in his own right) and Jimmy Smith (who had laid down many, many records by the time this Jimmy released his first) were three for starters. So competition and the scene played a part too.

Another reason is that this instrument brought some of the churchy gospel sound to the music Jimmy would make. This was an instinct which had largely been inspired by Ray Charles, mixing Gospel with R'n'B, or 'The Devil's Music' as it was known to the church going communities which many stars hailed from. The Hammond siphoned the sound of the church into the nightclubs and this was part of the feel Jimmy absolutely needed for his compositions. In fact his first recording was a cover of Ray Charles' "I Got A Woman", a song many credit with having pioneered the Gospel meets R'n'B style, which would later become Funk.

So how was Jimmy with his chosen instrument? Well McGriff, when compared to Smith, was not viewed as a great technician, so those expecting Jimmy Smith style flamboyance and elaboration will not find it. What is to be found however is a precision in composition and inflection which really makes Jimmy McGriff's trademark style - Heavy and Funky Jazz. Oh and it's all about being heavy and the funky comes with it naturally. He often played bass twice, with both foot and hand or on two keyboards simultaneously, so that is why it sounded extra heavy. Listening to this album you'll hear how the instruments are actually quite restrained and economise much. Jimmy's Hammond is the gold standard here. Most tracks have him just lightly licking a touch here and there while the rest of the band play the main tune but the effect is bold and instantaneous. His presence expands the sound immeasurably but there isn't a lot to it most of the time. Of course there are moments when he lets it fly like on the funny, funky, racing version of "Spinning Wheel" and that's something to behold given the simultaneous limb playing going on. In fact McGriff can kick up quite a flurry when he wants to. But in my book it's the arrangements that give all of McGriff's tunes their strength.

The overtly funkier tracks on this album are arranged by Horace Ott (I think that's his name). These are heavier on the bass and more 'traditionally funky' but it is McGriff's own compositions which are funky in more surprising ways. There seems to be more of that glorious gospel feel in them somehow. They sound less like a four piece band also: "Spear for Moondog pts 1 & 2" and "Birdwave" for example. These show case the big band touch of Jimmy's and provide hard evidence that Count Basie was both a dear friend and mentor.

Something else worth mentioning is that Jimmy McGriff had released over ten other records by the time "Electric Funk" came out and had been with three other labels before this release. This was his very first recording for Blue Note records and is commonly held as his greatest. This is an outstanding piece of composing and playing owing to all the reasons listed above and has influenced the jazz, funk, hip-hop and reggae worlds ever since it first came out. For a man that needed encouragement to get out and play in the early days this is truly accomplished and bold musicianship and very Heavy Electric Funk.